Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB144 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Raymond (Senate Sponsor - Nelson) H.B. No. 144
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 2, 2013;
3	3	April 9, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on
4	4	Criminal Justice; May 9, 2013, reported favorably by the following
5	5	vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 9, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to a mental examination of a child subject to the juvenile
11	11	justice system.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Sections 51.20(a), (b), (c), and (d), Family
14	14	Code, are amended to read as follows:
15	15	(a) At any stage of the proceedings under this title,
16	16	including when a child is initially detained in a pre-adjudication
17	17	secure detention facility or a post-adjudication secure
18	18	correctional facility, the juvenile court may, at its discretion or
19	19	at the request of the child's parent or guardian, order a child who
20	20	is referred to the juvenile court or who is alleged by a petition or
21	21	found to have engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a
22	22	need for supervision to be examined by a disinterested expert,
23	23	including a physician, psychiatrist, or psychologist, qualified by
24	24	education and clinical training in mental health or mental
25	25	retardation and experienced in forensic evaluation, to determine
26	26	whether the child has a mental illness as defined by Section
27	27	571.003, Health and Safety Code, [or] is a person with mental
28	28	retardation as defined by Section 591.003, Health and Safety Code,
29	29	or suffers from chemical dependency as defined by Section 464.001,
30	30	Health and Safety Code. If the examination is to include a
31	31	determination of the child's fitness to proceed, an expert may be
32	32	appointed to conduct the examination only if the expert is
33	33	qualified under Subchapter B, Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal
34	34	Procedure, to examine a defendant in a criminal case, and the
35	35	examination and the report resulting from an examination under this
36	36	subsection must comply with the requirements under Subchapter B,
37	37	Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal Procedure, for the examination and
38	38	resulting report of a defendant in a criminal case.
39	39	(b) If, after conducting an examination of a child ordered
40	40	under Subsection (a) and reviewing any other relevant information,
41	41	there is reason to believe that the child has a mental illness or
42	42	mental retardation or suffers from chemical dependency, the
43	43	probation department shall refer the child to the local mental
44	44	health or mental retardation authority or to another appropriate
45	45	and legally authorized agency or provider for evaluation and
46	46	services, unless the prosecuting attorney has filed a petition
47	47	under Section 53.04.
48	48	(c) If, while a child is under deferred prosecution
49	49	supervision or court-ordered probation, a qualified professional
50	50	determines that the child has a mental illness or mental
51	51	retardation or suffers from chemical dependency and the child is
52	52	not currently receiving treatment services for the mental illness,
53	53	[or] mental retardation, or chemical dependency, the probation
54	54	department shall refer the child to the local mental health or
55	55	mental retardation authority or to another appropriate and legally
56	56	authorized agency or provider for evaluation and services.
57	57	(d) A probation department shall report each referral of a
58	58	child to a local mental health or mental retardation authority or
59	59	another agency or provider made under Subsection (b) or (c) to the
60	60	Texas Juvenile Justice Department [Texas Juvenile Probation
61	61	Commission] in a format specified by the department [commission].
62	62	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
63	63	* * * * *